American Cartoons vs. Japanese Anime

[G-Force offline]

It's obvious that there are quiet a large number of users on LF that have a keen interest in Japanese Anime titles such as Naruto and a number of other series but now I'm curious to see if that sort of fandom also applies to anmation titles from the West. With the rescent rise of American titles that try to emulate the look and style of anime, it seems like the industry is shifting gears as a whole (with the exception of Adult Swim).

I love anime as much as the next person but to me, there's a certain spirit that only the classic American cartoons of my generation was able to capture. As a child of the 80s, I came of age during the time when both WB and Disney revived the classic vibe of old cartoons. This saw the emergence of cartoons such as Animaniacs, Duck Tales and Freakazoid. All these series contained brilliant writing that backed up all the cartoonish slapstick that they contained showing the writers' capacity of cleverness and old-school charm.

Of course that's just my humble opinion. With the sheer number of people who just lovee cartoons in general, it would be interesting to see what type of views will come up.

[LadyLucy offline]

Scooby Doo was good. I grew up watching that. Good 'ol Scob n' the gang...

[Rail Runner offline]

I like them both equally...they each have their good points.

[Darkborn offline]

I prefer oldschool cartoons over most anime. Freakazoid, Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, Loony Toons, Tom and Jerry.

But I do like Anime. It's Different from what we would call Normal cartoons. I mean if you grew up watching Loony Toons and then you see something like Digimon with the spiky hair, different art style, mouth syncing slighty off. You get curious and want to see what it is. Sooner or later you like the show.

But..and I say BUT. American Cartoons that Mimic Anime customs make me SICK!!(example: Kappa Mikey..I mean C'mon WTF)

[Sithking Zero offline]

I like TIme Squad, Road RUnner and Willy Cyote (Sp?), and Jhonny Bravo.

Plus, I think that most Loony Tunes Characters could whip any anime character in a fight.

[G-Force offline]

When it comes to me, I like anime for two reasons. The first being that the medium uses several elements of story telling that are absent from American cartoons that grace our television screens. Themes such as loyalt, death, redemption are expressed through these series and push past the limits of cartoons from our side of the boarder. Shows such as Rugrats and Hey Arnold show us that friendship is indeed important but anime shows how such a value can be tried and tested. Do you uphold you friendship toward someone even when doing so mean your own demise?

Then there's the issue of character development. To put it bluntly, in American cartoons, there isn't any. If Scooby Doo was an anime series, you would see the characters change drasticly between the first and last episodes. Shaggy and Scooby would gradually overcome their fear of the paranormal to the point where they wouldn't be quaking in fear everytime a ghost appeared.

The second reason why I love anime is a bit more racially motivated. As an Asain American, I'm a bit disheartend to see a lack of positive Asian cartoon characters in popular media. Those that I can think off the top of my head would be...

Jackie Chan
Jade
Uncle
Phobe
Juniper Lee
Kimi
Jake Long
Oni
Trixi Tang
Mulan

Since Anime comes from Japan, it obviously delves deep into Asian culture. Japanese ghost stories, shinto practices, Japanese history etc. They're not playing for a Western audience and therefore do not have the Asian characters stuck in secondary roles and instead have them in the spotlight.

However when the dust settles, I still find myself longing for cartoons such as Ghostbusters or the original Batman cartoon series. The very same arguements I used to attack these shows can be used to highlight their very strengths. Sometimes character development and story themes just get in the way. Honesty, do we really want our favority wacky trio from Animaniacs Yakko, Wakko and Dot to be "cured" through therapy and learn the evil of their ways? HECK NO! We want them to be their zany selves and causes as much damange on the Warner Lot as they can. There's a certain level of timeless to these shows in terms of their humor that holds nuggets of joy for people of all ages. For example, in Animaniacs there are three pigons called The Goodfeathers, who are part of a pigon mafia and serve their don with undying loyalty. While kids will find the cartoonish antics of these three birds amusing adults too have something to laugh at. For one, they parody the Oscar-winning movie "The Goodfellas" with each pigon parodying a different character. Pesto's voice sounds strangly similar to Ray Liotta's while the pigon assuming Joe Pesci's role always takes offense to whatever compliments are thrown his which paralles a memorable scene from the film.
Another brilliant moment of writing in the show was when Yakko and Wakko inspired Albert Einstein to come up with his legendary theory of realativity all by spelling the word ACME backwards which ended up looking like E MC and an A that looked like a 2.

In the end, it's hard for me to judge these cartoons fairly. I honestly do not know if shows made back in those days were absolutely better or maybe its because that I grew up on them that I hold them to a higher degree of admeration then shows I see currently.

[TB3]

Sadly in America 2D animation seems relegated to 'kiddy status' - when some animators take a bold step and try to make a serious animated movie, it usually flops.

My best example, Don Bluth's masterpiece, Titan AE.

[Rail Runner offline]

Good point Teebs...its gotten to the point where you cant watch a so called cartoon without ridicule from family or friends. Anime seemingly has found its way into that pile..even though you try to explain the difference...they are all thrown into the same pile.

[Lyoko SA80 offline]

mmmmm. You lyokofreaks need to do a bit of reaseach because japan is the birth place for all cartoons (manga).lol.I not joking

[Wingnut offline]

Heh, the good days of Cartoon network. When there was no Miguzi(Sadly no Lyoko ) or TickleU and Toonami was every weekday 5-7. I grew up on that. Cartoons now have become so childish they've poisoned odler shows into their ways(Ed, Edd, and Eddy). Anime remains my favorite animated style from when I watched Dragonball Z and Pokemon, to now with Naruto and Bleach. It's a shame what's come of western cartoons.

[MY85 offline]

So Saddam Hussein dies, no one here gives a crap. A thread about cartoons exists and lots of debate takes place.

Why people overpraise cartoons and anime way too much?

If anything, I give more value to real life human beings acting rather than voice acting in a cartoon, with a few exceptions.

It takes skills to make both stuff, I won't deny that.

If anything I hated about overpraising anime over cartoons is hearing stuff (in many places and in this forum too) like hentai is so much better than real life porn. It disgusts me when I hear that.

[Sithking Zero offline]

Sadly in America 2D animation seems relegated to 'kiddy status' - when some animators take a bold step and try to make a serious animated movie, it usually flops.

My best example, Don Bluth's masterpiece, Titan AE.

Yeah! I loved that movie!

Sci-fi, Drama, Action, Romance, 3-D, Characters I could relate to (plus, Akima was pretty...), just... wow. Why that movie didn't do better at the box office is beyond me.

But I like Anime because of Character development, the "Arc-centric" storylines, the plot, the gigantic robots... YAY!!

But sometimes, like the first season of CL, I do like things like Animaniacs, which either make no sense, or one episode has little or nothing to do with other episodes.

Besides, I would choose Animaniacs over Princess Mononoke seven times outta ten. Sorry, but it's true. I love both, but for a good chuckle, I'll take Animaniacs.

[G-Force offline]

So Saddam Hussein dies, no one here gives a crap. A thread about cartoons exists and lots of debate takes place.

Why people overpraise cartoons and anime way too much?

Maybe because many users here on LF might feel uncomfortable, talking about a man being executed or just death itself. Such discussions can lead to a firestorm of emotions being released that people would rather avoid. However you yourself are just as responsible for the board's lack of attention to such a pivotal issue. Since the execution, you have only made one post concerning the event on a BKO hangout thread as a quick search on the boards have shown me. You could have spread awareness of the topic yourself, conjured up discussions of your own and start your own thread instead drawing attention toward it in an unrelated topic. Other pivotal members of the media, not celebrity related, were lost that this board ignored altogether. What about the controvertial execution of reformed former gang leader Stanley Williams who, during his stay in prison, was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize? What about the death of verteran 60 Minutes reporter Ed Bradley? Then there's former president Gerald Ford; where's his thread?

Still, doom and gloom out of the way. The reason why we talk about cartoons Rodri is because they are an art. Cartoons can unlock a multitude of emotions from our psyche along with memories that we cherish. As an art, there is no set of rules to judge what his "good" and what "sucks." Quality is realative as one person's hated series can be another's favorite. Views can agree, clash and engulph each other all in the same paragraph. They're just as unique as the person that they derived from and given the medium that we are discussing where we've all at least have a certain degree of exposure to the source, some interesting opinions have been shared.

[MY85 offline]

Okay, true. I haven't put up a thread about Saddam. Surely most people saw his execution by this point, but a thread like his would most likely get ignored. However, I'll put up a thread about a kid that died because he imitated Saddam's execution.

You haven't answered my question entirely as to why people overpraise cartoons way too much, and if you did, it's not a convincing answer to me. While prefering real life acting to cartoons may be subject to debate... what is beyond me is how people here would prefer hentai to real life pornography when both are about a similar subject and both are just as unmoral as it can get. Still, hentai can portray women in a much worse way than a pornography film could. You don't see Janine Lindemuller in tentacle rape, do you? But go watch La Blue Girl and it happens.


Now back to this subject... American cartoons were good once, now they mostly blow, with a few exceptions.

Japanese cartoons in my opinion are good... but they're way too overpraised or overrated. But that's just me.

[Mewberries151]

Okay, true. I haven't put up a thread about Saddam. Surely most people saw his execution by this point, but a thread like his would most likely get ignored. However, I'll put up a thread about a kid that died because he imitated Saddam's execution.

Just speaking personally, I haven't seen the video, and I honestly don't care to really. I really have no interest in seeing something like that, to be perfectly honest...but this is off-topic anyway. *sweatdrops*

You haven't answered my question entirely as to why people overpraise cartoons way too much, and if you did, it's not a convincing answer to me.

Honestly, I think the term, "overpraising" is subjective. Opinion is opinion. Some people really like anime/cartoons and in that case it's not "overpraising" but expressing a like for something one feels strongly about. To a person who hates anime and/or cartoons, or at least is not a humongous fan of that medium, of course it's viewed as "overpraising".

I don't really think there's an answer to be given to that...since it's not really question either, except a "question of opinion". ^^

Of course though, this in turn is just my opinion. ^^;

[TB3]

Speaking of Anime, I just found something EXTRAORDINARY on Moonscoop's website.

CL is to be aired in Japan!

[jayde_child offline]

Well yeah I like them both too. But if I were to pick from Fairly odd parents or Inuyasha, I'd pick Fairly odd parents.

[Ulrich's lil bro offline]

Wow...Strong discussions! And it involves pornography! Aweseome! ...

Heh, the good days of Cartoon network. When there was no Miguzi(Sadly no Lyoko ) or TickleU and Toonami was every weekday 5-7. I grew up on that. Cartoons now have become so childish they've poisoned odler shows into their ways(Ed, Edd, and Eddy). Anime remains my favorite animated style from when I watched Dragonball Z and Pokemon, to now with Naruto and Bleach. It's a shame what's come of western cartoons.

I'm completely with you there! Cartoon Network has been one to let down several watchers. I may have grown up a little later than most here, but, I was always around to the good days of CN, with Toonami in the afternoons. In fact, DBZ still remains to be a personal favorite and I still watch it on Fridays at Midnight! of course, pokemon is old yet people still find the charm it has. Of course, many now just make fun of it... but having Toonami in the afternon was something I used to look forward to. I remember Rorouni Kenshin (sp?) and Yu Yu Hakushow, that i used to watch too. But, cartoons on Toonami now, are still good. I enjoy them since they do have the good elements. And Adult Swim has been doing fairly good even though I think it shouldn't be called Adult Swim...(More kids watch it than adults...Nobody really listens to the messages that say it's not suitable for people under 14 or 17..)

I don't know what happened with CN but it seems they just wanted to take care of even younger crowds, thus taking off the good shows that actually interested viewers. I admit, some of them, have been popular, but I can't really say that you can enjoy it as much as other comedies or action shows.

But, even though i wasn't around for the very early stages of it, Tom and Jerry was my favorite thing for comedy. It was so good because of all the random clobberings and chases in it. Even though it hardly had voices! They only show it on Boomerang now, and sadly, i don't get Boomerang...

And hell, about the Saddam thing, I care. I'm glad that he's dead...good riddance. But, it just seems that people aren't to excited about talking about news or things like that. The news is enough to cover that, so, does anybody talk about something like cartoons which is probably considered unimportant? No. And so, opinions arise and not just facts that are repeated over and over again. Eh, whatever, those were my thoughts...

[G-Force offline]

Alright, I'll attempt to answer Rodri's question concerning animation of the questionable manner while at the sime time preserving the thread's PG rating.

Here goes nothing.

The answer is really simple if you look at it, it's the same reason why some people like animation over live action but in a different spectrum. To put it bluntly, there are some images and activities that a cartoon character can accomplish that a real actor can not because of the fact that they do not exist in reality. Not going into specifics, there are certain positions and situations that would be quiet difficult for a human to be in that a character than can be drawn would easily assume. People latch onto those differences and see them as a breath of fresh air from the norm and ultimately turn to like the meidum as a whole.

[Gauntlet offline]

And hell, about the Saddam thing, I care. I'm glad that he's dead...good riddance. But, it just seems that people aren't to excited about talking about news or things like that. The news is enough to cover that, so, does anybody talk about something like cartoons which is probably considered unimportant? No. And so, opinions arise and not just facts that are repeated over and over again. Eh, whatever, those were my thoughts...

Hmm... since this topic is slightly related towards Saddam, I'll put in my opinion.

I kind of wished they had either kept him locked up, or given him the normal death penalty. I always thought hanging was removed recently, only to find it's still back. I would have preferred Saddam stayed in his cell for a life sentence than death. I know some people feel genocide-dictators deserve to die, but I don't think we're the ones to decide (unless it's in self-defense, and you kill him with a gun or something fatal..).

He's done, not a lot we can do. Not much I care to argue with, either, so that's it.

As for anime and cartoons, I'm beginning to prefer anime. After watching Inuyasha, and reading into it more, I came to like that character development factor. Bleach looks pretty interesting as well; I pulled an all-nighter to get up to episode 8. Sesshomaru does look cool though!

My 3¢. (damn inflation.)

[Insanity Hero offline]

I just watched an episode of Teen Titans and the only thing that came into my head was way too much big head face changing to those anime chibi stuff. Though I was and still am a fan of the show after it got the boot I watched more shows that didn't follow in the line with "big heads" in every single flipping scene!

I'm going to use Hellsing for this one. I just got done watching the OVA and the T.V. version and not once did they over do the funny face looks. Come to think of it in the T.V. version there was none, zip, nothing. OVA there were a few scenes with the funny face looks but again they were rare and few.

I'm not a fan of the American style of anime because they over use those funny looks, anger marks, and sweat drops when their not needed. Again Teen Titans for example. Scenes that are hardcore important still have those stupid anger marks or silly face look. Yes in some parts its needed but WB over used it so much that when a very important scene came up you were watching for the mood to break with either a sweat drop or something else.

[G-Force offline]

Let's see anime do THIS!